Graduation can be really hectic, and there are a lot of things that need to get done, but which are easy to forget. Here's a timeline and checklist to get through it.


Well ahead of time:

  • Schedule a meeting with the EC and interested club members to discuss which class members should graduate. You should prepare for the meeting by dividing the class into "almost certainly graduating", "almost certainly not graduating", and "needs discussion", and may want to tell likely meeting attendees who is on the "needs discussion" list in advance so they can keep an eye out.
     
  • If you are planning for there to be a Grand March, find someone to choreograph and lead it
  • Take Badge Orders from the club and graduating class (err on the side of getting badges for anyone who might graduate) (see Club badges)
  • Get the class started thinking about class hack tips - you'll probably want to mention some hack tips that have been done in the past and worked well (see Big List Of Hack Tips for ideas) Also, don't forget to explain that they're optional and don't affect who graduates. 

A week ahead:

  • Find someone to organize the punch (Brian might be willing)
  • Find someone to get/make cake (Barbara Steele has gotten it from Costco in the past)
  • Check on the supply levels of cups/plates/forks; if they are low, ask the Treasurer to order more from ecat
  • Fill out, print & sign diplomas (Diploma Template.doc, as fonts vary by computer, you might need to pick a new font; aim for something with Chancery in its name)
  • Get graduation folders from the locker, or if there aren't enough, talk to the Treasurer
  • Tell Ted what the class hack tips will be, and ask about going until 11 on graduation

Before graduation:

  • Edit and print graduation handouts (see Graduation Folder & Information for new grads) 
  • Get chocolate bars for people who had perfect attendance (don't penalize MIT students who missed review week)
  • Assemble graduation folders
  • Write up a graduation schedule (see below) and send to Ted, officers, and the class
  • If you are planning for there to be a Grand March, add a line about it to the email announcements reminding the club that for the march each class member should have a club partner
  • Consider asking on Discord for somebody to bring a couple pairs of needlenose pliers, so class members can add pronoun dangles and EC members can swap out officer dangles

Graduation

  • 7:30 Walkthrus 
  • 8:00 Club Tip
  • 8:15 Class Tip (review & teach of last 4 calls)
  • 8:40 Rounds & class meeting to prep hack tip
  • 8:50 Hack tip for the Club (run by the class)
  • 9:10 Hack tip for the Class (run by the club)
  • 9:30 Grand March 
  • 9:40 Presentation of Diplomas
  • 9:50 Announcements/Cake/Rounds
  • 10:00 Club Tip (for everyone)
  • 10:15 Rounds
  • 10:20 Club Tip
  • 10:35 Rounds
  • 10:40 Club Tip

Before hack tips, we traditionally emphasize that they're just for fun and totally optional. Here's a sample speech: "Next we have the hack tips, starting with one for the club run by the class, followed by one for the class run by the club. These are optional – all are welcome to participate, but graduation is in no way conditional on participating. Dance if you'd like, or just watch if you'd prefer. With that, <person> will introduce the class's hack tip." (We intentionally talk about optionality, but not hazing – hack tips are not actually very particularly hazing adjacent, and we feel it's weird to act like they are.)

At the end of the grand march, everyone will be in the front, facing the stage. Someone should announce the names of graduates (either Class Coordinator or delegate to another officer). They each come up, get graduation packet, and are congratulated by a receiving line of Class Coordinator, Ted, Phil, and optionally other officers/PE coordinator/Class assistant. 

After Graduation

  • Email class with helpful information (see sample email below)
  • Add class graduates to tech-squares
  • Add the graduates to the grad list page of the wiki
  • Add the hack tips to the hack tip history page of the wiki
  • Send a message in the #announce channel of the Discord server with the names of the graduates
  • Get the class graduates added to the club roster (see below)
  • Clear the class list
  • Make notes on your experience/ what to do differently next time

Sample email

Sample text of post graduation email:

Hi,
You've recently been added to the tech-squares announcement mailing list, and should have gotten
the club announcement email about the dance tomorrow (if you didn't or want to receive those emails
at a different address, let me know).
If you are interested in joining any of our other mailing lists, the links are below.
Monday rounds class: http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tech-squares-monday-rounds-class Andy recently
started teaching a rounds class on Monday nights. We will be starting a new rhythm (waltz) in early January -- no
prior dance experience needed, so if you're interesting in trying rounds, this is a great place to start.
Discussion: http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tech-squares-discuss
(for discussing club policies, hack tips, etc.)
(for mentioning social things other squares members might be interested in)
Also, there's a survey about your experience in the Tech Squares class. Please fill it out, it helps us make the class better in the future.
As a reminder, Tech Squares has a Safer Dances Policy. Our current Safer Dances Coordinators are Alex Dehnert and Ginda Fisher (safer-squares@mit.edu).
Paying and Gate: 
You may have noticed that the weekly announcement mentioned subscription prices. As a club member, you have 2 options
for paying for dances -- you can either pay for dances individually or you can buy quarterly subscriptions, which mean you
don't have to worry about paying each week, and may give you a discount. (MIT students automatically get free subscriptions).
Regardless of whether you need to pay or not, please check in with gate (the person just inside the door).
I've also attached a PDF of the papers in the graduation folder, in case you prefer an electronic copy.
If you have any questions or concerns about Tech Squares or (calls or square dancing generally), I and the rest of the officers are here as resources.
Happy Dancing!
-Veronica
Tech Squares President

Updating roster

 SquaresDB accepts a spreadsheet import. You can see a sample spreadsheet to crib from. It expects the following columns:
  • "First Name"
  • "Last Name"
  • "MIT affiliation?": Match the slugs used in SquaresDB – "none", "undergrad", "grad", "alum", "staff", "community" (eg, spouse of a grad student or of staff). Can be looked up in the MIT Directory (student year is a number for undergrads and 'G' for grad students).
  • "Email"
  • "Grad year": expected or actual MIT graduation year, if available
  • "PE": whether they took the PE class this semester, "TRUE" or "FALSE"

Export the spreadsheet as a CSV file.

Log in to SquaresDB (choose the login dropdown at the top right, and choose either "MIT" or "Google"). If you haven't gotten your account set up before, you'll need to get a SquaresDB maintainer to give you permissions (if you're not sure, visit the import page – if it asks you to log in again, you need account permissions). Once you're logged in, go to the class import page, filling out the form as:

  • Label: <semester> <year> – for example, Spring 2022
  • Start date: first night of class, in YYYY-MM-DD format
  • End date: graduation, in YYYY-MM-DD format
  • Coordinator: the class coordinator – if there are multiple, pick one
  • Student csv: upload the CSV file you exported before

If you have issues, contact a SquaresDB maintainer.

https://web.mit.edu/directory/